New Details on Animated ‘Tron: Uprising’

Do you have Daft Punk stuck in your head? Are you seeing neon lights everywhere you walk? Don’t worry, you’re just suffering from TRON Fatigue. Get some extra sleep, purge your mind of any thoughts of Olivia Wilde (difficult, we know), and you’ll feel better in the morning. Given the sheer volume of hype Disney put out for TRON: Legacy, which opened last week to mixed reviews, your condition is understandable.

Before you give up on the TRON universe and throw yourself into the next big thing (Avengers anyone?), you should take a minute to learn more aboutTRON: Uprising, the upcoming Disney XD animated series set in the TRON universe and featuring the voice talents of Elijah Wood, Mandy Moore, Paul Reubens, and TRON mainstay Bruce Boxleitner.

Earlier in the week, Todd Gilchrist of Box Office Magazine interviewed TRON: Legacy screenwriters Adam Horowitz and Eddie Kitsis about the new animated series. The pair were enthusiastic about the series, its creative team, and how it falls in line with the TRON: Legacy continuity. Check out excerpts of the interview below.

Kitsis said that they’re taking the continuity of the series very seriously. In the overall timeline of the series, TRON: Uprising, will take place before TRON: Legacy.

“This animated show will take place from when Flynn is in a safe house. It’s from when Clu takes over the grid to before when Sam comes in. So if you were wondering what was the grid like before that, then watch the show.”

In addition to building on the timeline leading up to TRON: Legacy, Horowitz explained that he and Kitsis wanted to explore some of the things they couldn’t squeeze into the final cut of the film.

“To give you an example of how we approached storytelling sometimes is like when you’re in the End of Line club, when we first meet Castor and he’s being berated by one of the patrons saying, ‘I want an audience with Zuse.’ His name is Bartik, and there’s an entire back story we have for him. The guy with him, his name is Hopper, there’s a whole thing between the two of them, what they are doing in there, and how they got there. It’s like over the years of developing this movie, we developed all these mythologies and all these back stories and all little tangential things.”

Kitsis added on to Horowitz’s comments, saying:

“Did we have time to do the Bartik story? No. But now maybe the Bartik story is in the animated series—you know, he’s got a huge scar on his face. I want to know how he got that scar. We couldn’t sit down and write that there’s a guy with a scar on his face without knowing what the scar was. So we hope it adds to the depth of the movie…hopefully it fills in the blanks in and in a fun way and an intriguing way.”

Count me intrigued for the TRON: Uprising TV series. I’m not one to watch kids cartoons, unless it’s my amazing set of Batman: The Animated Series DVDs, but this seems like it could be a pretty cool way to add more substance to the entire TRON franchise. Either that, or it will be another way for Disney to suck the life out of the franchise in order to make more money. Since it’s Christmas time, I’m going with the more positive spin.

In addition to the animated series, which premieres in 2012, Horowitz and Kitsis also wrote a 10-part micro series that will premiere next summer. Keep your eyes on that micro series, as it will probably be a good indication of the quality of the show.